Brisbane is FOUR!

Brisbane is four.  Just four years ago I was working full time.  And now I am working full time PLUS some.
He just seems so much bigger these days.  It is equal parts awesome and totally depressing.  This little boy that made me a mom is such a little light in our lives.  He drives us completely batty.  But we love him anyway.

 We celebrated his birthday two days early because of Mack's crazy work schedule and his birthday was on a Sunday.  So he took cupcakes to school, we opened presents, went to Chick-fil-A, and ate cake.  It was a good day.  Unfortunately he is now totally confused and even though I told him on Sunday that it was his real birthday, he keeps thinking his birthday is just  "few days away".  I'm in trouble with this one.

 Raphael "swords"... he LOVES them!

 He is kind of totally obsessed with Ninja Turtles these days.

 Brisbane requested a Ninja Turtle Cake.  He really wanted "the red one" but I wasn't sure I could get the frosting to be red instead of pink, so I told him Leonardo would do.  He was initially a bit upset that I didn't do the whole body.  When we were buying icing he told me we would need some yellow and orange for the shell.  When I told him it would just be the face, he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

 But he ended up loving it.

Such an amazing kid.
It was a bit of a rushed celebration.  Mack and I had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera that night.  Since it wasn't Brisbane's real birthday and I was under the delusion that we could celebrate on Saturday, I bought the tickets for that day.  But then Mack ended up having late call that Saturday so we had to move it up.  I felt a little bad about ditching the birthday boy on his faux big day.  But then I realized that he was so excited about the babysitter that he probably thought it was part of his celebration.    Happy Birthday Mr. Brisbane!

School Board Speech

I recently spoke at our local school board meeting.  I told my sister I would post my remarks here so she could read them.  Please excuse any grammatical errors, I didn't read this word for word at the meeting so I didn't look it over super closely:

Good Evening.  Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to come and speak with you about a topic very close to my heart.  My name is Monica ________.  I have a child enrolled in kindergarten _________ Elementary School.  I am a former elementary school teacher, believe in the power of public education, and care that each child is given an appropriate and meaningful educational experience.  I appreciate the hard work that teachers, administrators, and staff make every day to nurture and educate children here in __________.

I am here this evening as the result of a thus far frustrating school year.  My eldest son was enrolled in first grade at _________ but I have since removed him in favor of homeschooling.  I wanted to bring to your attention some things that I have learned throughout the past several months that led to this incredibly difficult and less than ideal situation for our family.

My biggest concern about the education of all children at _________ Elementary is the lack of preassessment.  Pre-assessment is vital to the educational process.  It allows the teacher to know what his/her students already know so that they are better able to cater to the unique abilities present in their class.  Those students who need additional support can be identified and helped to flourish.  Those children who have already mastered concepts can be given additional material to challenge them and instill a love of continued learning. 

The _________ principal has told me that the only preassessment they do is DRA and AIMS Web testing.  Those tests only evaluate basic skills.  They are not unit specific or based on common core standards.  So before beginning a unit or introducing a standard, the teacher has no prior knowledge of what their class does or doesn’t know specific to that unit or standard.  Because of this, I have observed lessons that are completely inappropriate for the classroom population.  Kids are lost or bored with only a few following along.

When speaking with the _________ principal recently he informed me that all curriculum in this district is a “top down approach”.  If you don’t give it to the teachers, they don’t do it.  Since the curriculum companies haven’t written preassessments for the units or standards, the teachers at _________ don’t do any.  When I was a teacher and now as a homeschooler, I write my own preassessments, both formal and informal.  I would like to see more preassessments implemented on a unit or standard based level.

One of the best things about implementing preassessments is that it allows the teacher to then differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of their class.  The _________ principal assured me several times that all of his teachers differentiate.  But when I have asked for specific examples, he cannot give any except for the BLAST Reading program.  The BLAST program is great, but it isn’t enough when we are talking about math and science and writing and teaching kids to love learning through projects that encompass multiple subjects and standards.  I followed up with a first grade teacher on what she does to differentiate and she told me, “I don’t do it.  I just open my book every day and teach.  I don’t know what I am teaching tomorrow.  Or next week.  I just do what’s in the book.”  Is that the best we can do?  I don’t think so.  And I think our children deserve better.

I have been saddened by the lack of projects and opportunities for first graders to learn through creative expression.  I have a child in Kindergarten at _________ and she brings home great projects and really fun learning experiences every week.  My first grader did not bring home anything other than written assignments or worksheets from the beginning of the school year until he was withdrawn in February.  There has to be more that can be done to encourage a love of learning in the younger grades.  Education can and should be so much more that worksheets and writing.

I have been in continued communication with _________ teachers and administration since the middle of November.  I have been told that changes will take place and nothing happens or change happens at such a slow pace that it is inefficient.  After ten weeks of school, when I asked my son’s teacher why no new material had been introduced, she told me that she was still establishing routines.  Ten weeks into the school year and we are letting routines get in the way of introducing new material, challenging students, and providing them an appropriate education.

Not only are changes suggested that don’t happen, but I have also learned that I was lied to by my son’s teacher concerning what was happening with classwork.  There is absolutely no excuse for lying to a parent when they are trying to help facilitate an education for their child.

Between February 4^th and February 25^th, I sent three emails to the _________ principal that were not responded to until I received a phone call on March 2^nd.  Leading up to withdrawing my son from _________, I made it clear we were trying to make decisions quickly and it took the principal two to three days to respond to my questions each time.  I believe that this lack of communication and delay in responses undermines the parent/school communication that is so vital to helping our children succeed.

I have been trying to help make changes at _________ that would benefit every child.  In December I planned a Holidays Around the World Unit complete with grade level appropriate newspapers, passports, multicultural projects and writing assignments.  I have truly wanted to make this year a positive experience for my child, the other children in his class, and the teacher.  But I have been met with resistance.  Since my daughter will be in first grade next year, I am deeply concerned about the level of education she will be receiving.

I would love to see change moving forward concerning preassessment, differentiation of instruction, providing more rigorous and creative educational experiences, and better communication between parents and school.  I hope that you will support the idea that every child should learn something regardless of their current abilities.  Thank you.