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One of my favorite parts of the Passover seder has always been the discussion of the Four Children. The traditional seder discusses four children — The Wise Son, The Wicked Son, The Simple One, and The One Who Doesn’t Know How to Ask. Each of these sons has his own question, and the haggadah explains the appropriate response for each one. Since entering the classroom, I’ve had my own thoughts about each of these children, and their manifestations in my own classroom.

The Wise Son asks, “What are the laws and statutes by which to fulfill the commandments of Passover?” This son is exalted, because he seeks to learn more about the rituals of Passover. Furthermore, this question is considered wise, because it shows understanding of the story of Passover and seeks deeper meaning from the seder.

A wise child in the classroom hopefully offers the same sort of questioning for the teacher. A wise child is not content with the cursory understanding of a topic or a strategy, but asks for more information. While too many children are willing to absorb knowledge passively without further elucidation, a wise child asks for more.

More often in my classroom, however, it has been the “wicked” child who challenges me as a teacher. The response to The Wicked Son’s question, “What does this ritual mean to you?” has always bothered me. The haggadah instructs us to “set his teeth on edge.” Had this child been alive during the time of the exodus, the haggadah explains, he would not have been redeemed. Harsh.

The haggadah’s interpretation that this child has excluded himself from the community and rejects the tradition of Passover only partially explains the reaction to The Wicked Son’s question. (more…)

I picked up my students last Friday with a big smile on my face. I recently recommitted myself to keeping an overwhelmingly positive attitude.

“Good morning! Are you ready for a great Friday?” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster at 8:15 am.

“Mr. Brosbe, it’s not a great Friday for me,” said the little girl at the front of the line.

“Why not?”

“Because — because …” Before she could explain, huge tears starting rolling down her cheeks.

Upstairs, she was finally able to tell me why it would not be a great Friday for her. The night before there had been a fight outside her apartment. Two people, including the son of her mom’s friend, were killed. (more…)

I was walking out the door of a meeting with a parent when I mentioned I had to run out and buy some balloons. “Oh, whose birthday is it?” the parent asked.

“Oh, no, they’re actually for a science experiment,” I explained.

Later, walking up the stairs and blowing balloons at the same time, our conflict resolution teacher saw me and remarked, “Nice! Science experiment?”

I was struck by the contrast between my colleague’s reaction and the parent’s response. But when you spend time inside a school, you see the world through an entirely different lens.

Most people see balloons and think a party. Teachers see balloons and think a science experiment. Most people see a cardboard box and think trash; teachers think art materials. Most people see an adorable eight-year-old; we see a challenge. (more…)

This post is one of many published as part of the #EDUSolidarity project.

There are plenty of times when I disagree with Michael Mulgrew and the UFT. There have been more than a few occasions in conversations about teaching when I’ve had to admit my own confusion or frustration with the union. But these instances will never change the fact that I am a proud supporter of the teachers union.

In a bizarre era where policy experts are calling attention to the need to attract better teachers while policy makers simultaneously decry our “lavish” benefits, the need for a strong union becomes increasingly acute. The blatant attacks on collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin and elsewhere do nothing to improve education. During such a time, I am grateful for the hard-fought union battles of the past that protect me from discrimination, support my instruction and planning, and encourage my professional development.

When I think of one of the most vital roles of the union however, I think of the protections that allow me to advocate for my students. At a school with more than 33 percent of students requiring special education services and an even larger number who are considered English language learners, I understand how crucial it is that I can speak up for these students if they aren’t getting legally mandated services. This is arguably the foremost job of a teacher, to speak up for his or her students. By protecting teachers who do this, the union is protecting the city’s neediest children. The union is at its best when it is in this role.

I know I don’t see eye to eye with the UFT on every issue. I don’t agree with LIFO. I think in the past tenure has been granted too swiftly and easily. In other areas, like the need for a stronger evaluation system, I hope the union will take more of a leadership role to create a system that differentiates more clearly between our best and worst teachers and provides feedback to help the latter group change their practice.

I think these changes will elevate the status of teachers, but also create better classrooms for our students. I know the union has an indispensable role in the future of education reform. In the meantime, I am grateful for the freedoms the union provides me that make me a better teacher to my students. I’m equally thankful to be a part of a group that welcomes discussion within its ranks. The debates within our group can only make us stronger.

Earlier this week my school held parent-teacher conferences. The turnout for my class, with 21 of 27 students represented, was considered good. Still I was surprised and frustrated by some of the no-shows. Meanwhile, it’s March and I have yet to meet a parent for two of my students. This is more than discouraging, it’s just sad.

I know these parents work all hours and more than likely multiple jobs. But I’ve reached out every way I know how, with no success.

Luckily these two students go against the trend I’ve seen over the years, and are in fact two of my top readers. Nonetheless I wish deeply I could share their learning, their strengths, and needs with someone at home.

In the meantime, I tried something different. I held the conference with the student. (more…)

It’s been a busy week with plenty of stories to share. There was the student of mine who transferred schools abruptly without a chance to say goodbye, my post-observation meeting, and the girl who basically extorted $20 from another student. In all it hasn’t been the easiest week back from break. But as I’ve read the discussion surrounding layoffs and seniority, there’s a recurring thread of half-truths that’s too frustrating to ignore.

As usual, both sides of the issue are guilty of manipulating facts in favor of emotion. On the one hand, the argument that seniority-based layoffs, aka “last in, first out” (LIFO), will disproportionately hurt high-poverty schools seems overblown. On the other side, people arguing that without seniority, principals will simply fire the most expensive (e.g. most senior) teachers, are exaggerating the incentive to do so.

Most frustrating about the discussion surrounding LIFO however, is the false insinuation that if we don’t stick to LIFO, therefore laying off the least senior teachers, we’ll lay off the most senior teachers instead. There are legitimate arguments about the changes being proposed. However, the idea that ending LIFO will put senior teachers on the chopping block instead is untrue, and it’s much more harmful than some of the others floating out there, because it fundamentally distorts the conversation.This is not what Educators 4 Excellence’s white paper on LIFO, nor the Flanagan Bill passed by the State Senate earlier this week, propose to do. (I am a member of E4E, and I took part in the group’s lobbying effort in support of Flanagan’s bill.)

While there are some differences between E4E’s policy paper and SB3501, they would both change layoff policy essentially by first losing U-rated teachers, teachers with chronic absenteeism, and teachers who haven’t found jobs after six months in the Absent Teacher Reserve first. This doesn’t mean we’d just go out and summarily fire any teacher with 20 years experience, but that’s precisely what advocates of the current seniority system are arguing. (more…)

Last weekend Teach For America held its 20th Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C. It’s hard to imagine this program which started as a graduate thesis idea is now one of the most prestigious and exclusive pathways for college grads to enter the classroom. In honor of this milestone, there has been a lot written about TFA and its rise to fame and fortune.

TFA alum Robert Schwartz’s column from The Huffington Post is especially potent. As a TFA corps member, former principal and Chief Academic Officer of a charter network, Schwartz seems to know the ins and outs of TFA pretty well, which makes his criticism of TFA pretty valid.

Schwartz outlines several ways that TFA has drifted from its core mission of putting good teachers in the hardest to staff schools. The point that stuck with me was his first: “More and more, corps members are placed in high performing charter networks who have little trouble filling teaching positions.” This runs totally counter to TFA’s founding mission of placing teachers in hard-to-staff schools.

The problem was illustrated to me firsthand when a friend’s sister who has just been admitted to TFA e-mailed me asking for advice getting a job. She told me that TFA will be distributing her resume to charter schools and on a map of schools TFA is in contact, about half were charters. She also expressed her desire to find a job in a “supportive charter school environment” because she wants to be a career educator.

I did my best to answer some of her questions, and then added an unsolicited plug for teaching at a traditional district school. Based on personal experience and countless horror stories out there, it’s hard to argue that a district school would be better or more “supportive” for her. But it is where she’s needed. Twenty years ago, that’s where TFA would have told her to go and it still should today.

Last week my assistant principal drew my attention to a table of my grade’s recent practice English language arts scores compared with our fall simulation. Specifically she pointed out that my class was the only one which failed to show progress. Ouch.

Over the weekend I sent her an e-mail which essentially thanked her for her support, apologized for missing the mark, and outlined my plan to get my students moving. This of course violated two cardinal rules of public school politics: 1) Don’t admit fault and as a corollary 2) Don’t expect a pat on the back for doing so.

Two days later, I met with my AP to discuss why things aren’t working in my classroom. For some reason I expected a little positive reinforcement, then a discussion of next steps. Instead, after 40 minutes of grilling on differentiation, lesson planning, and guided reading I felt exhausted, frustrated, and humiliated.

Why was I expecting anything different? It occurs to me I’m trying to have it both ways. (more…)

One of my roommates brought home a copy of Fortune‘s “100 Best Companies to Work For” issue. Shockingly, when I looked over the list which included companies like Google, Zappos and the Mayo Clinic, there was no mention of the New York City Department of Education. How could this be? We might not have on-site wine bars like one of the companies listed, but we get to shape America’s future. How does that opportunity not make the cut?

In all seriousness, I’d be curious to know how Fortune would assess the prospects of working for the NYC DOE. It would be ridiculous to knock teaching for a lack of flashy perks like life coaches, on-site gyms, or paid sabbaticals. Still, the NYC DOE falls short in one very real and significant way. All of the companies on Fortune’s list are hiring. Meanwhile, the NYC DOE and school districts across the country will be laying off thousands of teachers by the end of this year. At a time when we need the best and brightest to consider education an option, this doesn’t make teaching very appealing.

Hiring and retaining quality teachers is one of the fundamental components to fixing our schools. Education as a profession may not be able to offer the same money or incentives as the companies on Fortune‘s list, but there is a lot schools and the DOE can do to attract and keep the best teachers possible. Here are a few ideas inspired by Fortune‘s list:

• Better starting salary. This is a no-brainer.
• Use the incoming 4-tier evaluation system to reward excellence in the classroom. (more…)

Remember those commercials we used to watch for cereal when we were kids? The sugary cereal would be bookended by bran toast, a glass of orange juice, a glass of milk, and a bowl of granola topped with a sliced banana. “Sugar Cereal X is a part of this nutritionally balanced breakfast!” the announcer would inform us.

I would never consider the arts as superfluous to a child’s education as sugar cereal to a breakfast, but I wonder if others do. Recently I posted a project on DonorsChoose requesting support for a project that will give my kids pastels, charcoal, water colors and picture frames. I posted the proposal on my personal blog, and I got this comment from “Mad Jack”:

The thought that occurs to me is that time in school would be better spent teaching your budding Picasso to read, write and speak English rather than fine art. But perhaps that’s an invalid opinion, since I’m not a certified school teacher.

Mad Jack pointed out that in my proposal I stated almost all of my students are below level in reading and math. With that in mind, does he have a point? I think a lot of us from “touchy-feely” backgrounds certainly embrace the role of the arts in education, but do my students have time for them when some of them are reading at a kindergarten level or can’t subtract basic minuends?

I want to say emphatically to Mad Jack, who I hope isn’t serving as too much of a straw man, YES. I am certain there’s research to support my claim, but for the purpose of this post, I’m going to speak from personal experience. (more…)