Don't Forget South Central

February marked a number of school visits ranging from elementary (primary) to middle school (lower secondary) and high school (upper secondary.) As the Fulbrighters get their feet wet, mastering public transportation, integrating in schools, and networking in the education world, the question that keeps arising in lunch rooms and private conversations is why do we have so much violence in schools? History Department, Jyvaskyla Normal School (Lower and Upper Secondary) I was trying to explain my school environment both to the History department at the University of Jyvaskyla Teacher Training School (the Finnish version of a lab school) and to seniors at Schildt school, both mature audiences who can handle a nuanced discussion. It never occurred to me just how much I’ve internalized and to an extent, normalized the violence in our society. The new high school seniors asked if gun control might be feasible after Stoneman How does one explain the dramatic rise in pov...

http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/AFP_Getty-476646709.jpg It was the late ‘70’s and there was a televised show based on the Hardy Boys mysteries (who else has that collection?) that captured my attention. This particular episode was based in the city of New Orleans during Mardi Gras time. The visual images captured my imagination: people wearing masks, losing their identities and adopting new ones, dancing and parading on the streets, the music…well, I was hooked. I knew at age eight or nine that I would be visiting New Orleans and as many other places in the world where I could discover a different kind of mystery and magic than what I saw in my own neighborhood. Almost 40 years later, some might say I took this to the extreme by moving to one of the colder climates in the world, the country of Finland, for 5 months to study the school system. If you’ve been reading this blog, you will know there is a special urgency that underlies the reason for...

Photo Credit https://bodybalance4you.files.wordpress.com Friday the 15th of December marked the last day of the school semester for me at Los Angeles Academy Middle School in South Central L.A. It also meant that I would not be returning to work until August of 2018. Goodbye, 8th grade students matriculating to high school. Goodbye, parents with whom I have collaborated for many years. Hasta luego, colleagues and friends who will remain on the front to keep pushing our school forward. Mighty Lions Gala It was not an easy farewell. But confoundingly, I was wished a happy vacation by various people. I smiled, and corrected them, but apparently this is a very common misconception encountered by Fulbrighters while on leave. Imagine having a burning curiosity on a subject related to your work. Mine was the education system in Finland, and whether we could implement some of their best practices in the USA. You wish you had the time and the money to explore this esoteri...

What do you do for the third act of your career? Will you keep the promise of service to a challenged community that you made in your early career? (to drunk colleagues at a Margarita Jones?) ”We’re Lifers,” we all agreed, after our third round of margaritas. Do you give yourself one final challenge and give yourself to other kids who need you just as much but in different ways? What will you do when you only have 10 years of teaching left? (ish) These are the questions that have left the Sensei in an existential funk for the last year or so. Never bright eyed and bushy tailed, work at my last school (a middle school) was every bit the challenge I knew it would be. Questionable leadership, racial politics, and the massive effects of poverty on students made the teaching conditions there…unique. Yet, still, there were incredibly talented teachers who were making a dent in the system. A system where the odds were against these students and teachers, and little wa...

Thumbs Down in 2014 1. iPad Debacle John Deasy ordered the spending of millions of dollars for the highest priced tablets that could have been spent on lowering class sizes for more individual attention of students. Some classes reached the 50's...that's not instruction. It's crowd control. 2. Misis Catastrophe The district dragged its feet to become compliant with a consent decree, and then hurriedly rushed out a software program riddled with glitches. Worse, they refused to slow down when warned repeatedly by teachers that the program wasn't ready to go live. 3. Lack of a contract settlement (7 years without a cost of living adjustment) It's disheartening to see our leaders lie and deceive about how much money is in the budget to afford teachers and others a raise. Not even a raise, because that would take back pay on the 7 years our COLA was absconded with by the district. Teachers have families too. 4. Local control...

Parents, teachers, bloggers, and activists united in Washington over the weekend to rally for public education.  This speaker, John Kuhn, was the most electrifying of all.

What's happening to our school (massive layoffs over 3 years, drastic funding cuts) is now the norm district-wide.  Below is a telling video by the students and staff at Roy Romer Middle School in North Hollywood that pretty much sums up what's happening at schools throughout South Central.

Here's what I said today: Good afternoon, everyone, my name is Martha Infante, and I thank you all for inviting me to speak on the issue of Educational Equity as it relates to schools in California and the nation.   I, like David Cohen, am a member of the Accomplished CA Teachers Network, am Nationally Board Certified, and am currently a middle school history teacher in an urban, industrial area of Los Angeles. My educational background began in the public schools of East Los Angeles in the 1970’s.   I was fortunate to partake in a strong Gifted and Talented Education program and received a robust and fulfilling arts education as well.   As a graduate of UCLA, I continued benefitting from the investment made by the state in public schools and chose to return the favor by becoming a public school teacher in the hardest to staff area of the Los Angeles Unified School District:   South Central Los Angeles   where I have dedicated my service for 20 years....

By Sabrina Shupe at Failing Schools blog

Lamar Queen continues his mission to educate and empower youth via math raps and songs that appeal to our students.  His sophomore album is called Second Period and features songs about Pre-Algebra.  In addition, the company he founded, Music Notes Online, has also "signed" a second artist, Mr. D , who has released his own album on Geometry. Many fans search this blog for the lyrics to Mr. Q-U-E's raps, and they are finally available online by clicking here .  Enjoy! If you are in the Los Angeles area, don't forget to join us at the Back to School Jam at Horace Mann Middle School on September 18th.  It's going to be another great year in South Central!

It's been a busy month at the Academy and we have not been able to post as frequently as in the past.  But for those of you who work in South Central, Friday was a day to remember. Friday morning around 11:00 am, a massive explosion rocked the neighborhood.  The explosion was so powerful it shook all the buildings on campus.  It turns out the explosion came from a titanium fire at a recycling plant less than a block away from our school. The plumes of fire and black smoke immediately rose over the back of our school building, but thanks to the staff's professionalism, all students were safely secured in their classrooms within 30 seconds of the explosion. The school immediately implemented the Shelter-In-Place policy and all support staff checked the campus for any stray student, parent, guest, etc.  The lock down lasted 4.5 hours. For a time, we were told we may have to evacuate to a neighboring middle school because of the air hazard potential.  That...

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green from Megan Fox This week at LAAMS we found out our counseling staff will be reduced in half next year, with each counselor carrying an 850:1 load of students.  Our deans are being reduced from three to two, and our categorical program coordinators reduced from two to one.  We may also lose an Assistant Principal, in our school of 2,400 students in South Central Los Angeles. And we thought we were having discipline problems this year? My position as half time GATE coordinator that oversees 700 Gifted/Advanced Students will very possibly be eliminated.  How will these 700 students and their families be served during one conference period, in addition to the 150 other students I teach in the classroom? If forward progress paused this year because of the layoffs, it will most certainly reverse direction with these "final blow" cuts to our school.  If it wasn't for our fiercely dedicated teachers, our school ...

Starting at dinner time on Friday the 12th, the texts and phone calls started coming in.  "I'm fired,"  "guess I'll be looking for a new job" or  "I get it, LAUSD, you don't want me."  Apprehensive teachers had made their way home to find their pink slips waiting for them. Unlike last year, the teachers were realistic about their chances of getting another one this year.  Nothing can really prepare you for getting the letter that tells you you have less than four months left of being a teacher and working with your students.  LAAMS lost 23 teachers last year, and with that fact in mind, and no clear UTLA plan of action, our new crop of RIF'ed teachers are grim about their future, and the future of our school community. At least 10 new RIF's have been confirmed, but LAUSD saw it fit to send duplicate RIF's to last year's laid-off teachers who are currently working as substitutes.  In a time of contra...

Here's something you won't hear about in the media: a talented Math teacher and a creative English/History teacher go above and beyond the call of duty to produce educational math songs and videos for students at a public middle school in South Central LA , in spite of one of them being laid off in June. Lamar Queen signing autographs for his fans Lamar Queen with AvalonSensei, teacher/blogger LAAMS teacher Ha Nguyen and Jimmy Pascascio Former students come out to support Mr. Queen LAAMS teachers support their talented colleague Video Director Jimmy Pascascio with My Dear Aunt Sally, former student Whitney Parham Its not as fun to read about real teachers that reflect the best that LAUSD has to offer: educators with a passion for for their craft, amazing talents, abundant creativity, a commitment to students and their families... Close to 100 teachers, community members, and fans came out on Saturday, December 12, 2009 in spite of heavy rain, to support the release of Lamar ...